Takeout-Inspired Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less

Dinner Tonight: Buy or DIY?

It's time to break your takeout habit: You can whip up something that's healthier, cheaper, and even tastier before the delivery guy can get to the door, says Lucinda Scala Quinn, cookbook author, host of Hallmark Channel's Mad Hungry, and MSLO's own executive director of food.

In fact, Scala Quinn once did just that, when her teenage son challenged her to cook dinner in the time it took a pizza to arrive. Her improvised meal was ready long before the doorbell rang. (And the house smelled amazing -- try ordering that on the phone.)

"I never believed anyone ordered in because they couldn't cook," she says. Here, we offer 30-minute reasons to unhand the takeout menus and do it yourself tonight.